SB 39 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Public schools; best practice of tech. tools to assist w/identifying students at risk of self-harm.

Summary
Department of Education; best practices for implementation in public schools of technology tools to assist with the identification of students at risk of engaging in self-harm or intending to inflict harm on others; report. Directs the Department of Education to convene a work group consisting of representatives set forth in the bill, as determined by the Department in consultation with and based on consideration of suggestions from statewide education organizations and appropriate technology industries, for the purpose of identifying and making recommendations to the chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education on best practices for the procurement, implementation, and use in public schools of technology tools designed to assist with the identification of students at risk of engaging in self-harm or intending to inflict harm on others. The bill directs the work group to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the chairs of the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education by November 15, 2026.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Jan 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Governor
Introduced Nov 19, 2025 Last action Mar 10, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 2 edits · Jan 27, 2026
MINOR
The bill was amended from its introduced version to an engrossed version with minor formatting adjustments and one substantive addition. The primary change adds a requirement for the work group to consider whether technology tools incorporate racial and cultural bias mitigation strategies. This addition aims to ensure that the technology tools used to identify students at risk are evaluated for potential biases that could affect their accuracy and fairness.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's requirements was slightly expanded to include bias mitigation considerations in the evaluation of technology tools.
REQUIREMENT

Added a new consideration for the work group to evaluate whether technology tools incorporate racial and cultural bias mitigation strategies when assessing these tools for student safety identification.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes including reorganization of header information, addition of Senate amendment date, and adjustment of line numbering and spacing throughout the document.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 23, 2026

How they voted

380
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Jan 23, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
18 Yea 1
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
23
Key actions
9
Committee
9
Amendments
2
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
lower
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Education and referred to Appropriations (21-Y 1-N)
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Jan 26, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by Senate as amended
upper
Jan 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Education and Health Amendments agreed to
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Jan 22, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health with amendments (13-Y 0-N 1-A)
upper
Jan 22, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Jan 15, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate subcommittee offered
upper
Jan 15, 2026
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Public Education
upper
Nov 19, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors